By Daily Newsflash | Accra
Published: August 9, 2026
The opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) says it will not support any legislation or policy that seeks to criminalise cocoa farmers in Ghana.
This was stated by *Dr. Isaac Yaw Opoku, Chairman of the NPP Policy Committee on Agriculture and Ranking Member of Parliament’s Agriculture Committee, at a press conference at the NPP headquarters on Sunday, August 9, 2026.
Objection to Clause 81 of Cocoa Board Bill
Dr. Opoku described aspects of the newly passed Ghana Cocoa Board Bill, 2026, as unacceptable, with particular reference to Clause 81.
“As it stands, major provisions in the new cocoa board law will hit cocoa farmers,” he said.
According to him, Clause 81 appears to give the Ghana Cocoa Board extensive control over the destruction or uprooting of cocoa trees. He argued that it could expose farmers to criminal sanctions for decisions concerning their own farms, including the removal of old, diseased, or unproductive trees.
“What we cannot support is a law that criminalises cocoa husbandry, that criminalises farmers for the Cocoa Board’s own registration backlog, which leaves the door open for fragmentation for external marketing,” Dr. Opoku stated.
Concerns over enforcement and farmer rights
The NPP Agriculture Chair warned that the provision is unenforceable as drafted and could lead to abuse.
“It is our considered analysis that this provision is unenforceable as drafted and will lend itself to abuse, to arbitrary arrest, to extortion at the farm gate and to the harassment of an already struggling farming population,” he said.
Dr. Opoku also expressed concern that Clause 81 could give the state greater control over land ownership and its use, potentially undermining the rights of landowners and cocoa farmers.
He further referenced what he described as the existing abuse of Sections 207 and 208 of the Criminal Offences Act, 1960, Act 29.
Call for stakeholder engagement
Dr. Opoku maintained that government must engage farmers, landowners and other stakeholders before implementing provisions with significant implications for the cocoa sector.
He called for the controversial provisions of the Bill to be reconsidered, warning that excessive regulation could discourage investment in cocoa farming and undermine the livelihoods of farmers.
The NPP’s position forms part of its broader opposition to what it describes as the rushed passage of the Ghana Cocoa Board Bill, 2026, which was laid on July 28 and passed by Parliament.
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